[HOLD for payment 2023-06-02] [$1000] Link disappeared after changing link text to be surrounded with square brackets

[kavimuru]

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Action Performed:

1. Open staging.new.expensify.com
2. Send a link to a report (e.g. reference )
3. Edit the message and surround the text with square brackets (e.g. [reference])

Expected Result :

The message edited appropriately and the word [reference] is linked properly

Actual Result :

The link on the edited message is disappeared

Workaround:

Can the user still use Expensify without this being fixed? Have you informed them of the workaround?

Platforms:

Which of our officially supported platforms is this issue occurring on?

• Android / native
• Android / Chrome
• iOS / native
• iOS / Safari
• MacOS / Chrome / Safari
• MacOS / Desktop

Version Number: 1.3.13..3
Reproducible in staging?: y
Reproducible in production?: y
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Notes/Photos/Videos: Any additional supporting documentation

Square.Brackets.Edit.mp4

Recording.607.mp4

Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @kerupuksambel
Slack conversation: https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C049HHMV9SM/p1684022854090089

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01c7270dc3aa493e8e
• Upwork Job ID: 1657947299163742209
• Last Price Increase: 2023-05-15

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @kadiealexander (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details.

[melvin-bot]

Bug0 Triage Checklist (Main S/O)

• This "bug" occurs on a supported platform (ensure Platforms in OP are ✅)
• This bug is not a duplicate report (check E/App issues and #expensify-bugs)
  • If it is, comment with a link to the original report, close the issue and add any novel details to the original issue instead
• This bug is reproducible using the reproduction steps in the OP. S/O
  • If the reproduction steps are clear and you're unable to reproduce the bug, check with the reporter and QA first, then close the issue.
  • If the reproduction steps aren't clear and you determine the correct steps, please update the OP.
• This issue is filled out as thoroughly and clearly as possible
  • Pay special attention to the title, results, platforms where the bug occurs, and if the bug happens on staging/production.
• I have reviewed and subscribed to the linked Slack conversation to ensure Slack/Github stay in sync

[eh2077]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

Link disappeared after changing link text to be surrounded with square brackets.

What is the root cause of that problem?

We calculate removed links here

App/src/libs/actions/Report.js

Line 952 in 2e73562

const removedLinks = getRemovedMarkdownLinks(markdownOriginalComment, newCommentText);

and extract links from markdown to compare in method extractLinksInMarkdownComment

App/src/libs/actions/Report.js

Lines 895 to 902 in 2e73562

	const extractLinksInMarkdownComment = (comment) => {
	const regex = /\[[^[\]]*\]\(([^()]*)\)/gm;
	const matches = [...comment.matchAll(regex)];
	// Element 1 from match is the regex group if it exists which contains the link URLs
	const links = _.map(matches, (match) => match[1]);
	return links;
	};

The regex used in method extractLinksInMarkdownComment to extract link can't match edited link surrounded by square brackets, see below regex testing screenshot

While the regex of markdown-link-to-html rule can match link with link text surrounded by square brackets.

So the root cause is that the regex used in extractLinksInMarkdownComment doesn't behave consistently with the regex of markdown-link-to-html rule.

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

To fix this issue, we can re-use the first part of regex of markdown-link-to-html rule to capture link text surrounded by square brackets. We can change the regex used in extractLinksInMarkdownComment from

App/src/libs/actions/Report.js

Line 896 in 2e73562

const regex = /\[[^[\]]*\]\(([^()]*)\)/gm;

to

const regex = /\[([^\][]*(?:\[[^\][]*][^\][]*)*)]\(([^()]*)\)/gm;

So it can match and extract link with link text surrounded by square brackets, see below regex testing screenshot of the new regex

We also need the change this line

App/src/libs/actions/Report.js

Line 900 in 2e73562

const links = _.map(matches, (match) => match[1]);

to

const links = _.map(matches, (match) => match[2]);

Because the new regex captures the link in the second capturing group.

See demo

Screen.Recording.2023-05-15.at.2.31.24.AM.mov

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

N/A

[kadiealexander]

Reproduced on desktop staging app v1.3.13-1

2023-05-15_15-11-53.mp4

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01c7270dc3aa493e8e

[melvin-bot]

Current assignee @kadiealexander is eligible for the External assigner, not assigning anyone new.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @aimane-chnaif (External)